View source for Whitehouse.gov

{{Short description|Official website of the White House}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{lowercase title}}{{Use United States English|date=May 2021}}

{{multiple issues|{{primary sources|article|date=February 2009}}
{{update|date=January 2017}}}}
{{Infobox website
| name = whitehouse.gov
| logo = Wh-gov-logo.svg
| logo_caption = 
| screenshot = Homepage of Biden's White House website (November 2022).png
| screenshot_size = 400x400px
| caption = Opening page {{asof|November 2022|lc=y}}
| url = {{ubl|{{URL|https://whitehouse.gov}}|{{URL|https://www.wh.gov|wh.gov}} ([[URL shortening|short link]], a redirect)}}
| commercial = No
| type = Government
| programming_language = [[WordPress]]
| language = English, Spanish{{efn|name="spanishsite"}}
| owner = [[Federal government of the United States]]
| launch_date = {{Start date and age|1994|07|29}}
| current_status = Active
}}
[[File:Whitehouse.gov during Clinton administration.gif|thumb|The earlier website during the [[presidency of Bill Clinton]] in 1995]]
[[File:White House.gov opening screen full 1-20-09.jpg|thumb|The modern website following the [[first inauguration of Barack Obama]] in 2009]]
'''whitehouse.gov''' (also simply known as '''wh.gov''') is the official [[website]] of the [[White House]] and is managed by the [[Office of Digital Strategy]]. It was launched in 1994 by the [[Presidency of Bill Clinton|Clinton administration]].<ref>{{cite news |title=The Clinton White House Web Site |url=http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa012201b.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=August 30, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722064216/http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa012201b.htm |archive-date=July 22, 2011}}</ref> The content of the website is in the [[public domain]] or licensed under [[Creative Commons Attribution]] license.<ref>
{{cite web
|url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/copyright/
|title=Copyright Policy
|date=January 16, 2017
|work=whitehouse.gov
|access-date=2021-10-15}}</ref>

==Content==
The content of the White House website is designed to be an open portfolio for the public to know the current operations of the president during their presidency. The website contains information about the [[President of the United States|president]], the [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]], their families, press releases, proclamations, [[Executive order (United States)|executive orders]], and a transcript of speeches by White House officials.

The website also provides information about the current issues the president and vice president address (like [[Education in the United States|education]], [[Health care in the United States|healthcare]], etc.), also providing information about the history of the White House building, [[Air Force One]], and [[Camp David]]. The website also reviews the structure of the [[federal government of the United States]], including details about [[U.S. state|state]] and [[Local government in the United States|local government]], along with voting and elections.

The website also offers information about getting involved with the White House. This includes directions on how to write or call the White House, as well as details about the [[White House Internship Program]] and the [[White House Fellows|White House Fellows Program]].

The site also contains information about the current [[Cabinet of the United States]] and the [[Executive Office of the President of the United States]].

=== Site's difference in each administration ===
After a new administration is sworn in on [[United States presidential inauguration|Inauguration Day]], the website is immediately redesigned for the new administration. Past administration websites are archived by the [[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]]. 

List of prior whitehouse.gov websites:
* https://clintonwhitehouse5.archives.gov{{efn|name="clintonarchives"}}
* https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov
* https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov
* https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov

===Civic engagement===
{{Main|We the People (petitioning system)}}
On September 1, 2011, [[David Plouffe]], [[Senior Advisor to the President of the United States]] to [[Barack Obama]], announced in an email that the White House was releasing "[[We the People (petitioning system)|We the People]]", an online platform for the public to create petitions to the US Government. The launch of the petitioning platform was announced by Katelyn Sabochik on September 22, 2011 in a White House blog post.<ref name="White House Blog">{{cite web|date=September 22, 2011|work=whitehouse.gov|title=White House blog press release regarding the new "We the People" petitioning platform|via=[[NARA|National Archives]]|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2011/09/22/petition-white-house-we-people|access-date=March 2, 2021|archive-date=January 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120180447/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2011/09/22/petition-white-house-we-people|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On December 19, 2017, the [[First presidency of Donald Trump|Trump administration]] announced its intention to temporarily shut down the platform and replace it with a "new platform [that] would save taxpayers more than $1m a year", though ultimately it was retained in its initial form.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 19, 2017 |title=White House to 'temporarily' shut petition website |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42409634 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716132002/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42409634 |archive-date=July 16, 2018 |website=BBC News}}</ref> On January 20, 2021, the day of the [[inauguration of Joe Biden]], the platform started redirecting to the main whitehouse.gov domain, marking the discontinuance of the feature by the incoming administration. It has not been relaunched since.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 17, 2021 |title=Fact check: Did the Biden administration remove the White House petitioning system? |url=https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-did-biden-administration-remove-white-house-petitioning-system-1570052 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210322025544/https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-did-biden-administration-remove-white-house-petitioning-system-1570052 |archive-date=March 22, 2021 |website=Newsweek}}</ref>

== Platform ==
{{see also|List of Linux adopters|Linux adoption}}
In July 2001,<ref name="White House 1">{{cite web
|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/07/24/white_house_web_site_moves/
|title=White House Web site moves to Linux
|website=The Register
|first=John|last=Leyden
|date=July 24, 2001
|access-date=2021-10-15
}}</ref> the [[White House]] started switching their [[web server]]s to an operating system based on [[Red Hat Linux]] and using the [[Apache HTTP Server]].<ref name="White House 2">{{cite web
|url=http://www.linuxpronews.com/2009/1028.html
|title=How Whitehouse.gov Will Bring Open Source To The American Spotlight
|publisher=LinuxProNews.com
|first=Savio
|last=Rodrigues
|date=October 28, 2009
|access-date=2021-10-15
|archive-date=January 20, 2021
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120033258/https://www.linuxpronews.com/2009/1028.html
|url-status=dead
}}</ref> The installation was completed in February 2009.<ref name="White House 3">{{cite web
|url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/174746/
|title=Obama Invites Open Source into the White House
|publisher=PC World
|first=Steven J.
|last=Vaughan-Nichols
|date=2009-10-29
|access-date=2021-10-15
|archive-date=February 17, 2019
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190217020023/https://www.pcworld.com/article/174746/obama_invites_open_source_into_the_white_house.html
|url-status=dead
}}</ref><ref name="White House 4">{{cite web
|url=http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph?site=whitehouse.gov
|title=OS, Web Server and Hosting History for whitehouse.gov
|publisher=Netcraft
|author=Netcraft
|date=2011-08-26
|access-date=2021-10-15
}}</ref>{{not in citation|date=October 2021|reason=That just goes to the home page, now}} In October 2009, the White House web servers adopted [[Drupal]], a [[free and open-source]] [[content management system]],<ref name="White House 5">{{cite web
|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/open/around/eop/ostp/plan
|title=Office of Science & Technology - Open Government Plan
|first=John P.|last=Holdren
|date=July 7, 2010
|via=[[NARA|National Archives]]
|work=[[Office of Science and Technology Policy]]
|access-date=2021-10-15
}}</ref><ref name="White House 6">{{cite web
|url=http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/oval-office-goes-open-source
|title=Oval Office Goes Open Source
|publisher=Linux Journal
|first=Justin|last=Ryan
|date=2010-04-22
|access-date=2021-10-15}}
</ref> which runs on [[Red Hat Enterprise Linux]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.redhat.com/en/about/blog/red-Hats-decade-of-collaboration-with-government-and-the-open-source-community | title=Red Hat's Decade of Collaboration with Government and the Open Source Community | publisher=[[Red Hat]] | access-date=2021-10-15}}</ref>

In December 2017, the [[First presidency of Donald Trump|Trump administration]] launched a redesigned website developed using [[WordPress]] which it claimed would save taxpayers "almost $3 million per year".<ref>
{{cite news 
|title=White House website redesigned to save taxpayers '$3 million per year' |url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/white-house-website-redesigned-to-save-taxpayers-3-million-per-year
|access-date=2021-10-15
|work=[[Washington Examiner]]
|date=14 December 2017
|language=en}}
</ref>

==See also==
* [[Whitehouse.com]], a former adult website
* [[Whitehouse.org]], a parody website
* [[List of websites founded before 1995]]
* [[White House|1600 Pennsylvania Ave]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist|refs=
{{Efn|name="spanishsite"|A Spanish version of whitehouse.gov is currently available under the [[Presidency of Joe Biden|Biden Administration]] and was also used during the [[Presidency of George W. Bush|Bush]] and [[Presidency of Barack Obama|Obama administration]]s. During the [[First presidency of Donald Trump|Trump Administration]], the Spanish version of whitehouse.gov was removed. There is also archived Spanish versions of the website from the Bush and Obama administrations.}}
{{Efn|name="clintonarchives"|The Clinton version of the site was archived several times during the administration and this is last archive of the site. Other versions can be found by changing the id in the URL between 1 and 5.}}
}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website}}
* [https://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/archived-websites Archived Presidential White House Websites] from the [[National Archives and Records Administration]]
** [https://clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov/ Archived versions of the site] during the [[Presidency of Bill Clinton|Clinton administration]]
** [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/ Archived versions of the site] during the [[Presidency of George W. Bush|Bush administration]]
** [https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/ Archived versions of the site] during the [[Presidency of Barack Obama|Obama administration]]
** [https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/ Archived versions of the site] during the [[First presidency of Donald Trump|Trump administration]]
{{White House}}
[[Category:Government services web portals in the United States]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 1994]]
[[Category:Presidency of the United States]]
[[Category:Creative Commons-licensed works]]
[[Category:1994 establishments in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Multilingual websites]]
[[Category:White House]]
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